Category Archives: General Gaming

Corresponds to the General Gaming forum.

XCOM: Transhumanism and Guilt

XCOM: Enemy Unknown was commonly regarded as one of the best games of 2012, and I can’t disagree with that. Played on Ironman mode it was tense and emotional as each mission could spell death for one of your carefully nurtured and unique soldiers. Indeed, on a number of occasions it did. I didn’t feel guilty about that though, I always felt they had the best chance I could give them, even if it was only by luck that none died to my bad judgement, only by unfortunate circumstance or bad luck. The expansion pack, Enemy Within was harder, tenser, and did make me feel guilty though. Terribly guilty.

XCOM_EW

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Friday Diary: Intermission

Today’s diary is late, you may notice. This is a sign of things to come. This week a new player will spawn in the game which is my life and that will put pays to both Frigames and diaries for a while. I’ll be back though.

Go grab some ice cream or something.

Go grab some ice cream or something.

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Friday Diary: Chavalry

Last night’s gaming was a little hectic and confusing. Did I say that last week? I can’t remember. This was because we branched off into various team games, so Teamspeak descended into various overlapping conversations and exclamations. This isn’t uncommon among 5punkers, and while we could easily remedy this by going into different channels that wouldn’t be nearly as much fun. Either way, last night’s theme seems to have been the futility of teamwork. Oh, and axe running, but I’ll get around to that.

The EDL are getting smarter.

The EDL are getting smarter.

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Friday Diary: Playdate

Last night was a little disjointed. I think we managed maybe nine of us, but we didn’t unite in a single game until about midnight. Sometimes this happens, as a result of the fragmentation you get in large groups of 5punkers where there’s always one person who doesn’t have any given game. Last night that was me, so since we’re talking about 5punky constants I’ll take to opportunity to go over a few.

Another day in Manchester

Another day in Manchester

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Friday Diary: Grimmie’s Cock

Oh why do I always go for the rude titles? I remember stating that I had my diary title several times last night, but in the cold light of day only Grimmie’s cock stands out in my mind. This is the problem with my diary, I have a rather selective memory and so undoubtedly leave out hilarious moment, and also take a guess at how things happened and who said what. C’est la vie, just don’t believe everything I write.

It looks small because Grimmie has such big hands.

It looks small because Grimmie has such big hands.

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Friday Diary: Oh God My Eyes

There was something of a theme last night, among the gaming and usual witty banter.* I think it started off with cosplay, after Anery joined us from the Insomnia LAN event, but quickly devolved into playing the image equivalent of Russian roulette. Clicking on images lined by 5punkers is generally unwise, but last night it was turned into a sport.

*read: puns and childish insults

The horror.

I still see the horror in my nightmares.

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Friday Diary: Purple Spandex

Last week I was away so I played no games nor wrote a diary. Thanks to Grimmie for taking up the mantle with a Saturdiary, lovely it was and long may it continue. Last night we did play some games though.  Do you think we played Dota 2? We might have, but an old favourite also made a re-emergence and was better than many of us remembered.

I need to start taking more screenshots. Although this is authentic 5punk uniform.

I need to start taking more screenshots. Although this is authentic 5punk uniform.

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Saturday Diary: Snake hats

Hello one and all! I’m Grimmie and I like to play strategy games.

I’m sure you’re used to seeing the scribblings of Dog Pants on this page, but this week I thought I’d try my hand at reporting the scintillating events of our Saturday games. Civilisation V is a bit of a weird game. It’s great for those late night stints of strategising, continuously pulling you along in to the next turn with its hundreds of countdown timers ticking down to to zero, each and every one getting closer to completion with a click of the Next Turn button. You can take your time, place units across the hex map like pieces on a chess board, carefully plan your path to victory thanks to its turn-based format.

Barbarar the Barbarian

Barbarar the Barbarian was a constant source of teeth-gnashing.

It’s a little difficult to organise multiplayer games though, as a game that might take four hours to complete solo suddenly takes sixteen thanks to having to wait for your fellow players to decide what they’re going to do next. We rarely re-visit save games as getting the exact composition of 5punkers together again is quite a feat. It also means that there’s an awful lot of waiting followed by a sudden sprint of activity, and as a result, most of the 5punky shenanigans take part between turns.

Game notes follow. I had to do something between turns, right?

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Friday Diary: Where’s My Louis Vuitton?

Last night we had great plans. Plans which involved team shooters. But the first few of us who were on Teamspeak decided to have a game of Dota 2 while we waited. Five hours later we stopped playing Dota 2. Sorry. We did get eight of us playing though, at least briefly, which was good. Unfortunately it means I have nothing other than Dota 2 to write about today.

Mr Johnson, last night.

Mr Johnson, last night.

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Friday Diary: Fractal Wanking

It’s great to get a good turnout of 5punkers on a gaming night, and we’re regularly getting around eight these days. The problem with that is finding a game which all eight of us can play, exacerbated by our cat herd mentality and short attention spans. Free-to-play games come into their own under these circumstances, as we can all have a go together without necessarily having to commit.

Grimmie's bedroom, last night.

Grimmie’s bedroom, last night.

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